Cellmates
by Trapex
Summary: After Cole defeated Kessler, many people praised him. He saved many of the people around Empire City and took the populace by storm. The government, on the other hand, wouldn't have it. They locked him up, and now he finds himself locked up with one of the strangest people he's ever met.
1. Chapter 1

That day that I awoke alone on the pillar: I remember it. That day that my powers came to be: I remember that day. That day that I decided to use them for good: I remember that day. That day that I failed to rescue my beloved: I remember that day oh-so-painfully. That day when I defeated myself: I remember that day clearly. That day that the police decided to arrest me and put me in a maximum security prison: I remember that day and still live that day.

God, I hate these days.

New convicts go in and out as always. Some are Conduits, some not and I really couldn't give a damn less about it. Most of the Reapers had been rounded up with various charges varying on each and every one of them. But it was almost all the same: rape, theft, murder-you can rattle off the list and read their Miranda Rights off a hundred times more before you got finished. The Dust Men had their fights against the justice system and most weren't even sent here; just charged them with some bullshit call of temporary insanity due to the lack of love and compassion that they had as homeless rags. The First Sons, though; who knew what was going on there. I believed that the government went over some plans, talking about just demolishing the Historic District of Empire City entirely. But it's not like that it would hurt their causes any; they had the upper hand on me and they knew it. I couldn't get out of here-alive-and had no reason to yet. Nothing has emerged to alert me of any given priorities. The only priorities that I really need to worry about are living through this rotting hellhole and meeting up with Zeke on the outside.

There are just so many problems with my theory. I know they won't let some wildcard like me out on the streets again. God forbid they let some freak that actually helped their sorry asses out of this situation free of total obscurity. They need me to fade away to nothing. I mean, what would we do if another epidemic like this broke out? That wouldn't be good; no sir. It also doesn't really help that just to mess around with the guards I always drain the batteries on their walky-talkies as they go by. It's funnier than hell watching them try to break up a scuttle on their own. They throw a few punches here and there, trying to get the scum to back down with a couple jabs to the ribs. It's all false hope though. I don't think that they got the memo that over seventy-five percent of these degenerates here are Conduits; beings with supernatural powers. But oh boy, does the little man cry wolf once the burly creature comes out of hiding.

Today new convicts came in by the loads of ten on a chain. Of course, not all of them were put in the same cell because that would put everybody through some sort of unearthly yet so unholy torture. These prisoners varied from just local thugs to big time Dust Men. No First Sons, though, which was strange; usually some of them were so deranged that they would just give up their ambitions and turn themselves in, begging the police force for some psychiatric help. Of course, their help that they give comes in the form of a chair that could be wired to my body for use.

They gave some of the lesser criminals the choice of which cell they would want to stay in. Of course, none of them chose me. I just sat in the corner with my good old friend darkness by my side. We often shared a few memories with each other; me frying a few baddies here and there and saving a couple civilians at a time. Of course, usually I had to end our friendship a little early saying that I'm going to have and go turn on some lights. But once again, here I was, reunited with him. He caressed me in the corner I had chosen as my roost.

Everyone basked in my loneliness as they went by; everybody wanted to get away from me as fast as possible.

All except one. He had no choice.

I could hear the conversation coming down the hallway in all of its glory. More of an argument, but the force liked to refer to them as "unfriendly speaking" once all the cameras had hit. Yes, because such speaking including terms such as "motherfucker" and "dumbass" are ones that are only considered to be unfriendly.

"Oh c'mon, give an upstanding citizen a break!" The new inmate's voice was clear and mellifluous, speaking with the best of tones. His voice was a voice that you would hear only from movie stars.

"'Upstanding?' Maybe you don't understand the idea of having a permit for carrying a weapon!"

"So now I'm some kind of terrorist just because my rights have been branded clean of me? I have my concealed carrier license!"

"But why in the hell would you carry it through a Goddamn airport?" The officer was speaking with a very stark tone. Bill; big old black man who's my only friend on these side of the walls. He was used to sneaking me some extra rations in for the day and sending me secret messages from Zeke.

"Common sense is _only_ for the common?" They reached my cell and the man shrugged. I could now get an idea of what kind of guy he was.

He was tall and stacked with muscles; about six feet or so. His messy brown hair only added to the handsome factor. I couldn't get an eye color in the dark, so I just figured that it must've been something just as dark as his backdrop. No clean shave in a while, eh? You'll be having a ZZ Top soon. He was a dirty kind of a dresser; good considering his clothes would be torn up soon anyway. My bet: he'll last six months on a good timeline.

Bill just shook his head at the new convict. "Just get your ass in there." He then opened the door to…my cell? Wait, why would they be throwing him in _my_ cell? The last person that they sent in here got fried by me if I remember right. I forget if it was Richard or Earnest; I just keep a tally on my wall.

The door shut behind my new cellmate and we heard the solid click of the lock. He took the protestor's stand at the front of the cell, grabbing onto the bars. "Was it a bad guess?! C'mon, can't I have a lifeline or an ask the audience card?" This was one sarcastically wisecracking motherfucker.

I don't like him.

He gave up in eventual (and inevitable) defeat and just sat on the bench held up by a couple of chains. I could hear a soft and sound _why does this always happen to me_ from him and he ran his hands through his thick, short hair. We just sat in silence; I doubt that he even knew I was there. It was about five minutes before one of us spoke up.

"So what's your crime?" I was surprised that he acknowledged me and that he even _had_ those kinds of perception skills.

"Saving a city."

He laughed up a bit. I decided to try one on him. "You?"

"Carrying a completely legal weapon through airport security."

I snorted. "I can tell that I'm not going to like you."

"If you come out of that corner and let me get a good look at you, then I would probably be able to say the same."

"Oh, no; you wouldn't want to see me. I'm a menace to all of normal society and would burn out the public's eye sockets if someone saw me." I just threw my hands up a bit.

"Christ, at this point aren't we all demons if you've ever been in a prison?"

I hate it whenever these new guys make good points. They always tend to be guys that I like and then I'll eventually kill in the end. It took me a few moments to decide, but I went with it and told my friend of darkness goodbye and entered the light.

He pursed his lips a bit, making a weird noise and just nodding as he studied my character. This new guy really didn't have anything to say about me as he put his head down. "Well," he began. "Nice scar."

"Yeah, it really distracts everyone from the shaven head." I rolled my eyes.

A chuckle came from him. "I never really thought that I would end up in a prison like this."

I sat back down and waited a few moments. When that deep shroud of silence just didn't seem like it would pass, I said "Alright, I'll bite: what do you mean?"

"Well, this is small-town maximum security, right? I saw snipers, but only two. I counted only fifteen guards running a straight up-and-down hallway shift with only a few replacements at the side to hold a passage for them. There wasn't barb wire, but some old chicken wire. To compensate for it, they decided to go ahead and electrocute it with a small zero point eight kilovolt charger. It's a not very advanced prison, but it gets the job done for what the government around here wants."

I just sat back in shock. "So you've been in prison before, huh?"

"Oh yeah." He just blew air from his lungs in the form of some rendition of _The Star Spangled Banner._ This guy was strange; he was only a few years older than me. Hell, he may even _be_ my age. If he clocks at about thirty, then what the hell has he been doing?

"What for?" I asked him.

"Huh?"

"What've you been in prison for?" I specified.

"Ugh, I hate it when people ask me this question. Theft, breaking and entering, murder, assault, assault and battery-"

I stopped him. "Wait, what? How could that be right?"

"What?"

"With so many things you've been charged with, you must be looking pretty damn well for an eternity-year-old."

"I'm a professional thief. I get by."

Well, that answers things. "So this is just a minor demeanor for you?"

"You bet your ass." We started watching the TV that Bill had gotten for me. I also threatened the entire prison a little, saying if I didn't get what I wanted I would kill everyone within a fifty mile radius with an electric shock. I flipped through the channels and finally after getting through some God-awful _Keeping up with the Kardashians_, I got onto Comedy Central and we watched the politically comedic styles of Jon Stewart.

"Nice little set-up you got here." He told me.

"I know a few guys."

"Better than what they've got in those prisons in France."

I couldn't believe my ears. "What about France? You've been arrested in France?"

He just shook it off. "I get around. Like I said, I'm a-"

"A professional thief, I got it."

"No, I don't really like that term. I prefer artifact claimer as a better term." He sounded so matter-of-fact about it.

"How about a term known as your name?"

"Drake. Nathan Drake. My friends call me Nate, and my enemies call me Drake."

"Ok, Drake."

He laughed a little. "Oh come on, that's not fair, is it?"

I smiled a bit. "Alright, Nate. My name's Cole." I put out my hand in the air. "Cole MacGrath."

We shook hands. For once, the first kind of physical contact with a human being inside this cell isn't a punch to the face.

I sat back and we both just sat as Jon Stewart shifted to Stephen Colbert, giving out the Republican views of who-gives-a-shit-about-this-dying-government. Bill came by on his rounds and dropped me in two beers.

I went to pick them up. "That's strange; he usually only drops me one in."

Nate laughed. "Just shut up and give me a damn beer."

My arm was getting a little rusty, but I threw it his way. Of course, catching didn't seem to be problem with this man.

Nathan took a long drink, and as the bottle leaved his mouth, words replaced it. "So how are we going to do it?"

I just opened my bottle of Busch. "Do what?"

"Break out of here."


	2. Chapter 2

A spit take was almost necessary as I spewed out what beer was still in my mouth after gulping. It came out through my nose too, it was such a surprise. If you've ever had alcohol come out through your nose, then we'd probably all agree it burns like hell (even worse than most of the explosions I had to sit through with the Reapers; Trish was a nice enough girl that she'd at least treat my wounds to help save the damn place she lived in). I gathered up myself, trying to regain composure and get out my first question.

"Why?" I saw no problem with the prison I was in. I got beer and a TV with a side of loneliness; what more could I want?

"I need to keep moving. If I don't, then I'll get lazy and won't want to do what keeps me in business. Besides, I get the feeling that this prison won't suit me."

"Too lackluster for your tastes?"

"Yeah, I figured I'd at least get my own little wing off to the side with marble flooring and solid gold bars holding me in while I relax in the hot tub with the rats."

"Alright, let's the cut the shit and tell me this: how are you planning on doing this?"

He leaned in closer to me, signaling for me to do the same until his lips almost met my left ear. "I sneak out after dark."

"Genius." I sat back in disbelief. "Christ, you'd think that a master thief would be able to come up with something a bit more elaborate."

"It will be, alright? Do you want in on this or not?"

"I'm not really sure. Hell, I don't even know if you're telling the Goddamn truth or not about your stealing abilities." He better give me more than trying to open a lock with a bobby pin.

"I thought you would ask that." He folded his arms. "Check your right pocket."

My right pocket? That's where I keep the picture of Trish and I-

It's gone. It was gone. I stumbled over my letters, trying to form words. "How in the- What in the-"

He dangled a picture that was about an eight by eleven inch gloss. There we were; together and happy. I held her hands tight as the ring that was on her finger gleamed brilliantly against the sun. I had asked Zeke to take the picture when I finally proposed to her. I didn't really know that just a few days later that Empire City would go to apocalypse level activity with little hope of returning to its normal state. I hadn't realized that she would blame me for the death of her sister after she found out that I was the one at the center of the blast; the one that the government had blamed, therefore by extension the rest of the populace would, for this outbreak of Conduit vermin. I also didn't know that as I looked into her soulless eyes on the ground in front of an old abandoned building in the Historic District that she had taken off that same engagement ring that I proposed to her with just a week or so ago before this all happened. It filled me with a feeling of emptiness and sorrow, and to back it up with my best friend betraying me just was icing on the cake for my acquaintances known as regret and anguish.

I snatched the picture from him. "Alright, I'll give that to ya; you're good at stealing."

"Cute girl, by the way. She got a name?"

"Trish."

"So is this Trish waiting for you on the outside?" He said with such a smug smile.

I noticed I snorted a lot recently with this guy around-and it has only been about twenty minutes. "The only thing of hers that's waiting for me is her tombstone."

"Okay then. I'll leave it at that." Well, at least didn't try to garnish any part of it with a bunch of sorry for my loss bullshit.

I decided just to sit back in silence and flip through some more channels. I took the batteries out of the remote control so that way it wouldn't blow up right in my hand. All I had to do was give it a charge as I was going through the networks. HBO, Comedy Central, BBC America- oh look, _Top_ _Gear_'s on. I enjoyed the British humor spouted from the never-ending mouth of Jeremy Clarkson and his mates James May and Richard Hammond, all of them giving it off as it is whether it be calling Americans the stereotypical fat or bashing on the government and the outrageous rules that they had set for Great Britain's roadways. I'm guessing that Nate enjoys this show too; we just sat back in complete and utter silence for a few hours. To be honest, it got a little mundane after a while as these were all episodes that I had seen before. Yes, I liked watching the new Lamborghini or Ferrari skid around their test track as they go around corners at breakneck speeds and have them smoke up as the tires burn up under them. It was all great and fascinating as I wondered what it would be like to just be able to sit in a car without it exploding on me, but it still bothered me what he had said about breaking out later this very night. I'm not sure if he wants me to be part of it or not and that's just a giant issue with me. It'll be on my head since I didn't fricassee the guy like Bill would've expected me to do (I guess that's why he brought a second beer; figured that if Nate had lasted more than fifteen minutes with me then he ought to get something as a reward).

I massaged my knees just a little. They had been sore for quite a while now with me not getting a whole lot of exercise (seeing me as a liability, the government decided to keep me in this cell at all times instead of letting me out into the yard to play with the other inmates). I had gotten to at least use my electric powers every day. I just shocked the bars to send a little jolt throughout whichever officer was patrolling the area. They didn't like it and I really couldn't understand why not. It livened up an otherwise dull day for them.

"So what do ya say?"

He caught me off-guard. "Say to what?"

"Helping me break out of here."

Well that answered my question at least. He _does_ want me to help him after all. "I'm not sure. Like you said, I've got a good set-up here and I have practically nothing waiting for me on the outside." That, of course, was a lie. I wanted to get the hell out of this place as I was starting to grow a little claustrophobic around these walls they had put me in. Not to mention, Zeke was also waiting for me on the other side. We weren't much of friends as I had not yet forgiven him for his selfish actions of wanting to gain powers of his own over destroying the damn Ray Sphere, but he was the closest thing I had to family as my parents wouldn't even talk to me let alone care that I was in jail.

"You lying son-of-a-bitch." He chuckled a bit while saying those words.

"Caught me red-handed then?"

"You'd come off as a good liar to anyone else, I'll give you that. I've been around the block a few times though. _Nepokoušejte se__probírat__se mnou__, můj __příteli__._ "

That last bit sounded like gibberish to me. "What language was that?"

"Czech. It's a handy language to have, believe or not."

"Great, so not only are you the perfect candidate for _The Bachelor_, you're-"

He interrupted. "Why thank you." Still a wisecracking motherfucker.

I pushed on anyway. "You're also the guy they would call on to help someone learn their first language for _Rosetta Stone_?"

Nate pondered the question a little while. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. I don't like to brag-"

"Liar."

"Well, I _do_ like to brag that I do know quite a few different dialects of the world."

"What languages do you have in your pocket?"

"Let's see-this is going to be as harder than listing off the list of charges-Latin, Czech, French, Arabic, Hebrew, Russian, German, Greek, Japanese, Chinese-"

I held my hand up. "I get it. You know a shitload of them."

"I can teach you a few if you want. They'll be handy to have around."

I gave it some thought. It was something I had always considered before but just never had the time or the money to go and achieve. "Sure."

"Good. You'll start learning Czech tomorrow."

I got a little confused. "Tomorrow? I thought you were going to break out tonight?"

"Nah. Not tonight, anyway. This is a nice little lean-to to survive my prison days. I've got a maximum of four months, though. I don't want my reputation to be trashed and sullied just because of me lending a helping hand for your fluentness in the different tongues of the world."

I smiled and nodded my head. "Understandable. I'll try to pick things up quickly so that way I won't trouble your time limit any." I gave off a specific whistle, and Bill came by a few minute later with two more bottles of Busch. I went to pick them up. "Who knows," I opened my bottle and threw his in his direction. "I may be sick of this place by the time the four months is up."

Nathan took another long swig of the alcoholic beverage. "You mean you'd be willing to break out of here with me?"

"I've gotten myself out of some tight spots before." No need to mention that I was a little lucky a few of those times.

"So what? This is the beginning of a beautiful partnership then?" He raised his bottle of beer, a sign that I should go and clink it up against his as a tying bond of some sort.

I looked down at my bottle of beer. What would I be leaving behind if I went along with this guy? There'd be no way that he would be willing to stay here in Empire City. Not to mention that we couldn't even be able to stay within one hundred miles of here without seeing a few "WANTED" posters on the walls of some local convenient store. I'd become number one on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted list, no doubt. I would be leaving my true love's grave behind; I would be leaving behind my former best friend. Zeke would be pissed about this.

I knocked my bottle against his own.

"To a great partnership." Nate went at his beer, chugging it down.

"To cellmates." I chugged mine with him.


	3. Chapter 3

Four months have passed by and I've grown to be adept in the art of the native tongues of the world. Nathan was an excellent teacher to say the least about him, but he was still an ignorant bastard to deal with at times. Of course, I wouldn't really say ignorant in front of him, I would still call him a "wisecracking motherfucker." He'd make some remark about me being bald and sometimes, when he was on his man period, I'd say something about Trish. Albeit low, we still laughed about it, shut up for a while, rinse and repeat.

Nate was on his way to that luxury prison in the sky on top of a comfy, lofty cloud that would not dare break into wisps. I had a chess set brought in (at this point, it really isn't much of a prison as much as it is a hotel with room service) along with a deck of cards and a table we could play on. This usually filled up our time after lessons of languages, along with some stupid male dominance games; let's see who can take a punch to the face without crying! There were a lot of good suggestions thrown out there, but our fun was ended a little prematurely as some of the guards passing by on their patrols (including Bill, oddly enough) told us to cut it out before he had our asses in the hole. I literally laughed out loud once when Bill told us to quit as he was trying to hide a thick, black body bag behind his bigger self. Sure, I laughed, but Nate was a little disturbed by the scene.

During that four month period, though, after a day of nothing but Hebrew lessons, we sat down at our table and I shuffled the deck.

"So," I began, trying to get a good grasp on the cards, "the four months are going to come to a close here soon."

Nathan took a drink of his beer, which he switched to Milwaukee for some reason (my opinion of it is that it tastes like Cheetah piss in a can, but everyone has their tastes, even shitty ones). "Yeah, I've been planning a little bit here and there. Mostly it's just a bunch of dabbling, but I think I've got something going."

"Really now?" I dealt the cards. We've played games that cross the board for playing cards: Blackjack, Texas Hold'em, Yuker (we had to invite Bill and another guard buddy to play that one though) -you name it, we've played it. Of course, today we tried something different. A little game known Rummy, as far as I know and as far as I could care. "You really haven't been wasting your time teaching me and playing cards and, not to mention, drinking my beer after all."

"Oh, quit your bitchin'. That's why I switched to Milwaukee. You really can be a sadistic asshole, can't you?"

"You don't know the half of it." I rolled my eyes.

"Anyway, I'll tell you the plan." He picked up his cards. "I've been able to get out of this cell, unlike you, so I know the patrols of these guards right and left. Our best bet is to break out about, let's say, one o'clock in the morning and taking a left into our hallway just outside here. There are always two standing guards on the outside of the hallway to keep an eye on the prison courtyard. We take them out silently."

"You don't know me very well, do you?" I interrupted.

He shoved on. "We take them out _silently_, alright?" I sat back with a little bitterness. "Moving on." I thought I heard a quick little utter of the word crybaby under his breath, but I ignored it. "After a few more scuttles involving some of the cops on their shifts, we take the west wing exit. It only has one spotlight on the roof, running a plain horizontal line across the courtyard. There's also a large gaping hole in the chicken wire, almost _begging_ for someone to escape. They say that they're going to fix it by tomorrow, so we need to get out of this place tonight."

He finished his speech. I had listened attentively, a little perplexed about how simple his plan really is. I could've done that anytime. There has to be a catch that I'm missing.

"But there's a catch." Bingo. "I noticed going along these walls that there are wires specifically tied to each cell door. I can't unlock this gate without the alarm system being sabotaged. So unless a miracle happens within the next," Nate took a quick glance towards his watch, "6 hours, then there's no way shit is happening."

Nathan Drake: master thief. What a look of worriment on his face; he had faced situations in much more dangerous prisons than this and a measly alarm system has him outwitted? I couldn't help myself from laughing.

He gave me a look of confusion. "What's so damn funny?"

I wiped a tear that was coming down my face. "Oh, it's just that you were saying all this bullshit about being a professional thieving personnel and you're licked by a tiny little two-bit system that you could buy and install for less than forty bucks?"

"Let's see you come up with something genius."

"Don't worry. I've got it. Oh, and by the way," I continued, counting up the pairs and points that I had from my cards, "I win."

* * *

"One o'clock. Wake up, asshole." I threw a pillow at Nate. "We've got to get moving."

He groaned. "Just five more minutes mommy."

I shook my head. "Get up."

Slowly, ever so slowly, he got up. For a professional thief, he doesn't respond to escaping situations very well. "Alright, alright…I'm up." He cracked his back, bending it while making a moaning sound. "God, that fall in Borneo really kicked my ass."

"Yeah, you can tell me more about your wonderful thieving adventures later, hotshot. Right now, you got to pick the lock."

"For a United States prison, I would've figured something more…_advanced_ for a government establishment rather than this old medieval key lock." What seemed to be just a few flicks of the wrist and some clanging metal to me soon unlocked the door that was barring us in. "There, see? Easy-peasy."

Shooting him a look seemed of no concern to him. "So?"

"What?"

I gestured him onwards. "Lady's first, jackass. You gotta lead us out of here anyway."

"Jeez, someone's on their period." Nate chuckled. The bastard; I oughtta choke his ass. Afterwards though. After we were done.

I couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment surge through me like, well, lightning. I had my hair stand on end and my bones tingle as I ran past some of the monkeys asleep in their cages. For normal prisoners (whatever the definition of normal even was around here), they were issued the standard governmental orange with a tagged number on each and every single one of them. And that's all these human beings were to the ever-so corrupt punishers in Washington-just numbers. But as I passed the numbers known as "4081" and "7153," I snickered. I was the alpha-male of the dog pound and was smart enough to find my way out through the use of some friend. And in that laid another problem for the others; if only they had the charismatic abilities that I did.

I just hope he takes the secret well.

"Left, dumbass! Left!"

I practically almost was lost in a trance looking at the digits in chains. Thanks to Nathan's yelling about (prison guards: WE ARE HERE!), I got focused once more. I made a sharp left, regaining my composure with a little dignity.

"Sorry 'bout that." I don't know why I apologized. He'll probably still find an excuse to make fun.

Surprisingly enough, he didn't say a single thing. I guess when it comes down to it, you can't shake a professional out of his concentration while he's working.

"Alright, up this stairway and the guards working the passage, and then from there we should be close to home free." Drake pointed upwards. "You ready for this, big shot."

"You bet your as-"

"Freeze!"

An instant reaction; an instinct. I can't help it, being raised in the wild with my powers, anyone that yells in my direction with some type of threatening prospect I kill. It's a gruesome matter, but why can't any of them just learn to sidle along and see me walking away, not giving a fuck?

But during this split second, I felt it: I felt alive again. I could feel my electricity flow back through my veins as I released a full-on shock for the first time in months. It started in my cerebrum. Ah, the rush of it all! Smirking was the littlest of things that I could've done, and I did do; my pearly whites gleaming along with my sparks. My shoulder could feel the electric boogaloo do a shake through my muscles, allowing them to loosen up a little more. This was nothing as it coursed up through my arm, giving out an almost orgasmic sense of ecstasy. It all was great until the party died down with the bolt of lightning leaving my hand. Give me a beer and let the night settle.

This was until I realized-oh dear God, Bill. Good ol' Bill, the man who had brought me my booze and kept me entertained. One of the only two friends I had made inside these walls, and he was gone in a blink of an eye-by my hands, nonetheless. Everything seemed to just slow down, as if we were entering a special effect sequence from the Matrix movies. I saw Nate's reaction out of the corner of my eye, his own wide as dinner plates with a gaping mouth put under them. I didn't bother concentrating on that though; his conscience would recover. I'm not so sure about mine. I kept on forgetting that Bill was doing his job, just being another officer on the police force.

"What was that?!" Nate and I heard the yelling of another cop who turned out to be one of the couple that was standing by at the passage. Of course, Nate couldn't focus on that. He was more focused on one thing and one thing only.

"What in the hell was that?!" He yelled at me, still a bit shaken up by what he just saw.

"A little skill I picked up along with the barrel of fun of Empire City."

"You…you were one of them?! When the heck were you going to tell me that you could shoot little sparks of lightning from your fingertips?" He made a gesture of sorts with his fingers, wiggling them up and down.

"Yeah, I probably should've said something. But…" I looked back at Bill's lifeless carcass, and then shot another stream of electric power at the oncoming guard, getting a kill shot right in the head. My aim still hasn't wavered any. "We need to get going. Now!"

I grabbed him by his arm, dragging the "calm, cool professional" out of the building, dodging the oncoming bullets that tore through the air at high velocity from a couple different watchtowers. I didn't look back, I didn't shoot another bolt: I just got through the gaping hole in the chicken-wire fence and ran down a street, still holding onto the dazed and confused man known as Nathan Drake.

I need to find Zeke-I need to find a beer.

* * *

**Hey all! This is Trapex here on an author's personal note. I know that some of you who actually stay tuned for chapters of my story that get posted had gotten tired of waiting, wondering where the hell chapter 3 was. Trust me, I felt like I was going insane too. Getting inspiration for getting this done and over with was tiring to say the least. On that note, I'm not really sure when chapter 4 will be released. I do have a life outside of writing and I feel like I need to give more out to my own personal level. I want it to be one of the longer ones and I want it to be good-I don't think my best efforts got put into this particular one-and packed with some more action and depth into it. Now I don't want to delve on specifics for the chapter, but let's just say that it has a nice little twist to it. Anyways, I hope you all don't hate me for taking this long to post one chapter. Enjoy!**


	4. Chapter 4

Bullshit rang through my ears in the form of a voice. Nate was going off on some tangent of disbelief; he was just in shock and needed to calm down. Of course, in order to do that, he needed to also vent out a little bit. Zeke was just sitting alongside me on our usual couch, rubbing his temples to sooth the oncoming migraine.

"I mean, Jesus Christ!" Wow, still going. "You think you could've told a guy who you shared a room with for four months about the tiny little detail of being able to shoot lightning out of your ass?" Haven't tried that yet, now I want to. Maybe if I farted….? Oh, hold on a sec; he's actually calming down for a damn minute.

Nate held his forehead in his hand. "I get thrown in jail because the government has become overly-psychotic with security and then I end up escaping said prison because I was jailed with some freak."

I leaned back on the couch, slumping down. "Ouch, man. That one stung."

"I'm sorry. I need to come to realization with this is all." Nate walked over to the ledge of the rooftop, leaning on it. "You two got somewhere I could sleep? Someplace safe from the Conduits-other than Cole?"

Zeke finally piped up. "There's a fire escape just below along the building. Be careful with what room you choose, though; sometimes there's a couple hunkered down in there and boy, let me tell you what kind of freaky shit people are-"

Nate held his hand up. "Ok, g'night to the both of you. I don't want sleep with a thought like that in my conscience." He then simply jumped over the ledge, to which we could hear the steel bars of the escape clatter together. A window opened, a woman screamed, Nathan Drake apologized like the gentleman he is, worked on down, found a room, and climbed inside it. After a brief moment to which I assume he inspected the room, I heard a loud noise of the window closing.

Zeke almost immediately got up. "Son-of-a-bitch..." I could hear him mutter.

I tried to stop an argument from breaking out, getting up from the couch. "Now Zeke, listen for just a second."

"No, YOU listen Cole! Are you fucking crazy? Why couldn't you just stay in prison like a good little boy instead of breaking out with an unknown?!"

"To be fair, the cops aren't exactly the best of friends to me right now. Bill was my only friend who was a cop and-"

"Wait, what do ya mean 'was?'" Zeke turned around, raising his eyebrow.

I gulped deeply. I hadn't told Zeke about the event that occurred during the escape. Now that I recall it all, there was something more than me simply zapping him to death.

* * *

Three months into the four month limit given to me by teacher and thief extraordinaire, Nathan Drake, he was out and about on his daily out-of-cell session that was given to the sane and safe of those jailed. I remember him walking out with what looked to be another friend on the inside of these walls-an older man with what looked to be a Magnum P.I. mustache and Hawaiian button-up shirt. The old man had pulled out a cigar (which I assumed that he brought in secretly) and gave out an old hearty laugh as Nate seemed to tell him something funny (strange enough, I didn't see him come back in and didn't see him for the rest of my days in prison; I assume that he broke out). Bill was leading some convicts out when I caught his attention.

"Bill!" I loudly whispered. "Take five!"

Bill did so and found the nearest security guard to cover for him and lead the criminals out to the yard. He quickly made his bigger self over to my location and asked his question. "Yeah, whaddya need, Cole?"

"I," I looked around a bit and leaned in through the bars, "I need to tell you something."

"And what may that be?" Bill crossed his arms, waiting to be amused.

"Me and…Nate-remember him?"

"Yeah, muscular white boy who could be a movie sta- oh shit; you two ain't gay with each other, is you?"

"No! Nothing like that." I shook my head giving a groan of grief. "We're planning something big that'll happen in about a month."

"Why a month?"

"It's a deadline for him not to tarnish his reputation any as a burglar."

Bill nodded his head. "Yeah, yeah, I get that."

"And you're a police officer, huh?"

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Now, I want you to take off for a week when I tell you to; when it's time for Nate and I to leave."

"'Leave?' You ain't figurin' on breakin' out, are ya?"

I sighed heavily. "Yes. We are, Bill. Just promise me-"

He shook his head and sighed. "No no no, I can't do that. I won't be telling anybody of this whole 'plan' that you is a speaking of, but I ain't lettin' you or your friend out of here without a little brawl in between."

"C'mon, Bill. You know you can't take us on; hell, you couldn't even take me alone." I smirked, thinking he was joking. Turns out he wasn't.

"I'm willin' to give it a try. I've got to do my job."

I took in a deep breath. "Fine."

He started to step away, swinging his baton around on its flexible band. "I'm hopin' that you and I don't cross it any."

I walked away from the bars, tapping them and making them ring a little bit with a hollow sound. "I hope so too, Bill. I really hope so too."

* * *

As past experiences proved, he didn't follow my advice. Zeke listened as I proclaimed every event that had happened to me within those walls of Hell. It ranged through from the time Nate and I had met in the cell we had cohabitated in for the last few months to the very end of him and me running down the street from gunshots ringing throughout the air. Zeke rubbed his eyes solemnly, probably wondering if he was just wasting his time trying to mend bridges between the two of us.

"So…" he began, taking off his signature sunglasses and folding them into the pocket of his vest. "What do we do? Wait for this…this…guy to make a move or somethin'? Cut us off and turn us back in? You for your crimes against humanity and me for harboring a fugitive?"

"He's not like that at all. He's one of the few people on the grounds of this Hell-bound city that I actually have some respect for. Yeah, Nate's got a shady past, but don't we all?"

"Cole." I saw him shake his head in the thick darkness that was surrounding us all. Clouds had started developing over the sky, signifying an all night storm. "Fuck it. We'll talk about it in the mornin', alright?"

Zeke barely gave up arguing on any situation. You have to understand that this is a guy who was going back and forth with a cashier at Toni's Pizza Palace just for not receiving a particular topping and paying the extra twenty cents for it (the place closed down about a month or two afterwards). He either must be very tired or very irritated by my apparent arrogance. I felt my jaw kind of drop, letting my mouth hang open free for flies to buzz in and out of. Zeke couldn't really believe it either, so he just gave me a goodnight and climbed down the fire escape to his room with a combination lock on the window. It wasn't a secret to what the digits were-twenty-one, three, and eleven-but he felt safer with it on there, knowing that no normal thieves, at the very least, could break in. I'm not sure what he was worrying about; he was and still is always packing even keeping a pistol under his pillows at all times no matter where he stays at.

I put my head back on the back of the couch, looking up into the night sky and knowing that I should probably rest with a dark and rowdy day following this one up. I wondered if Zeke had been right about Nathan and whether he was just using me to get a free ticket out of there. Had I become so jaded that stupidity had overwhelmed my own common sense of untrustworthiness? Am I that gullible after all? No, it can't be right at all. I just have to perish the thought from my mind and think of a better tomorrow rather than a glum, moody one.

I climbed down the steel ladder on the side of the building, going by window after window. I heard moaning from a woman and a man inside one of them (I assume that this was the one where Nathan made a woman scream in surprise and embarrassment) and the slapping of bare skin up against each other. I pounded on the glass, telling them to keep it down. They stopped, but later that night I woke up to bed squeaking once more. Strange enough, I kept on having dreams of Trish after that particular event.

* * *

"Rough night?"

"They just wouldn't stop."

Nathan cracked a smile as I climbed on the rooftop the next morning with a look of the dead on my face, only satisfaction will be brought in the form of coffee. No cream and no sugar; just plain, straight black (as you could probably imagine through this, I'm not the biggest fan of Starbucks).

"Hey, it's the state of the post-apocalypse and things are just being put back together. Let the young lovebirds do what-or who-they want."

"You do realize we're just in our thirties, right?"

"I'm trying to be philosophical here, asshole." Nate took a gulp of his hot coffee. I saw two other cups in a cardboard drink carrier. They both looked to be marked with the Tim Horton's logo.

I picked one up and peeled off the lid, seeing the color of black in the background of some steam. "Aw, did you get this for little ol' me?"

"Just drink it and don't expect me to do it again. It was a thank you for getting me out of prison without, y'know, getting us killed."

I shrugged. "Bullets flying at you comes with the territory of being the 'hope of a city.'"

He shot me a glance. "Hope of a city?"

"I'll explain into further detail later on."

At this point Zeke had gotten up on the rooftop, bed hair and all. He took out his comb and quickly put it back into place and put on his sunglasses so he could stop squinting under the morning light. He saw me, then Nate, and then the last cup of coffee in the holder.

"Hello there." He said to the both of us.

"Morning." Nate said to him. I could tell they were both uncomfortable with the situation as Zeke sat down at the table and took his cup of coffee. He flicked the sides of the Styrofoam cup, making what seemed to be an almost hollowed out sound.

"So…Nate." Zeke Jebediah Dunbar began slowly. "How long are you planning on tagging along?"

"Zeke, he's going to be tagging along with us for a while. Up until he actually finds a way out of here." I gave the answer, to which Nate nodded in agreement.

"I have a plan to get out of here within the month or so. A friend of mine is supposed to be on his way out of here and was supposed to bribe the guards with a couple million to let me-and possibly you two-out of here through a helicopter pick-up."

"A few million? What the hell does your buddy do for a living?" Zeke said astonishingly.

"Same as me: a professional thief. The only difference is that he's got another thirty or so years on me."

"Speaking of helicopters, there's supposed to be a drop-off near the square sometime later on. Apparently they're actually bringing in some good food this time 'round." Zeke said, not even shaken by the whole pro-thief bit. When you're inside Empire City, you've been hardened instantly whether you realize it or not.

"Really now? None of that canned prune bullshit?" I said, taking a drink of the still hot coffee.

"Nope. Grade A quality canned goods. Still no beef though."

"I've dealt through worse." Nate said.

Zeke just gave him a plain stare. "I want my beef."

As the old Wendy's _Where's the Beef_ commercial ran through my head, I had already gone to the ledge of the rooftop, ready to make my jump. "So are you ladies comin' or what?"

Nate looked confused. "Why are you standing there?"

Zeke got up and kind of chuckled, starting to make his way to the stairway. "You'll see, rookie."

I crouched, getting ready to make the leap. My knees went unbent and my body was in the air. I felt the wind blow up against me as I fell quickly down on towards the ground. I hit a square on the sidewalk dead on, cracking it more than it already was and letting out a little bit of a seismic force around me, having those around me quiver and shake a little. Of course, they all started running away, fearing that the freak had been let out of the pen.

Nate and Zeke arrived, Zeke huffing and puffing away trying to catch his breath. "Have…have I…ever told you that running down…those stair su-"

"'Sucks donkey balls?' Yeah, you've told me." I said with a little grin.

"So not only can you shoot electric from your ass, you can jump off buildings and come out unscathed?" Nate asked me kind of rhetorically.

"Yeah, you could say that. Let's get going then."

We started making our way towards the square where they usually scheduled the drop-offs to be, and I was still right. We saw the blinking red lights come up from overhead as we heard the whirring sound of the helicopter cutting through air like it was a mixer trying to aerate egg whites. It slowly and painfully (to our stomachs) made its way down to the concrete surface. They detached the net and went like heck out of here. I'm guessing they saw me and figured that I was going to bring them down with a bolt from the sky or something.

Zeke pried open one of the crates with a crowbar that was secured with the package, revealing an assortment of canned fruits and soups, ranging from diced pineapple to strawberries and from chicken noodle to mushroom soup. They had the works in terms of what was available here.

"Grab whatcha can, boys!" Zeke yelled out enthusiastically. "Tonight we feast!" He started loading cans into a carrier bag that he had brought along with him. It would hold at the very least twenty large cans, so there was plenty of room when he grabbed about sixty cans of the over three hundred that were brought in.

A scream. A gunshot rang. I looked over and saw the dead body of some innocent woman just passing by at the feet of a Reaper. No, not just one Reaper; six of them. They were all holding a gun of some sort, but I can guarantee you that all of them were automatic. Zeke ran and put the bag in a nearby bush for safety reasons and pulled out his pistol, readily loaded with an eight round clip. Nathan…was gone. He's gone. Where the hell did he go, that chicken bastard! Ah, well, here goes nothing.

I quickly picked off two of them with a couple of headshots. As they rebounded back dead against the walls of the buildings, they quickly began firing upon Zeke and I. Zeke dived behind a pillar, as did I. He let out a couple of warning shots, letting them know that they weren't going to get near without a bullet going through their brains. The shots rang through the air aimlessly. These were just street thugs who couldn't handle a gun for the life of them. I knew that the Reapers were gone; these guys are just cheap knockoffs. I saw that they began spreading out though, so they at least had some strategy behind all of this mayhem. One of them nearly nicked me, hitting just the corner of the pillar and letting rubble fly off. I sent a rocket his way and assumed that I got him sense I heard a distant scream go to absolutely nothing in a split second. Just three more to go.

Zeke sent a bullet whizzing through the air at high velocity, nailing one of the thugs right in the head and killing him instantly. Make that two. I saw one…but where the hell was the other? He probably just ran away. At coming to that conclusion, I quickly sent a bolt in the direction of the last man, just hitting him in the chest to kill him.

We came out of our respective coverage spots and nodded towards each other, a standard congratulation of sorts for our work. Zeke dug the bag out of the bush and slung it over his shoulder. He put away his shooter and made his way over to me.

"Still haven't lost your touch, I see." He said plainly and coolly as ever.

"I don't let my habits go as easily as you do, Zeke." I replied stiffly. After seeing someone try and cameo one of my former assailants pissed me off, thinking that they could recreate the horror that was at large before.

"Very nice, boys. Now hands up."

The voice of a woman came from behind us with her holding dual pistols pointing right at our heads. She was pale-skinned but wasn't near at all the creepiness of the Reaper's former leader. She had her hood off and I guess she was the one that ran away. Also, judging from her assertive attitude, she looked to be the leader of that small band of thieves.

"Looks like I've got some rehiring to do. You really cut me thin, killing all of my men."

Zeke, who had his hands up alongside me, whispered towards my ear, "Christ, what a bitch."

"Shut it, fat boy. You'll do what I say unless you want a piece of lead going through you for your next meal."

I gulped. I knew that I could just so easily kill her right there with a quick zap. But I also figured that her reaction to it would kill me as well. There isn't a whole lot I can do in a situation like that. She's smart too, so I have to figure she's wearing something shock resistant that won't get her killed right away.

"So here's what's going to happen. You-"

At that moment, a figure, who later told me that he was silently approaching her the entire time, quickly grabbed her by the head and snapped her neck, dropping her instantly. He fleshed out his arms and hands, shaking them about.

"They build them tougher and tougher every time I do that."

"It's about damn time you showed up Nate." I said, putting my hands down.

"Well I saw an old pal of mine nearby and left you guys to go about your business. I didn't know that these…people…had come. If I did, I would've stuck around for the fight instead of coming in at the last minute to save your asses."

"Probably better ya did. We all would've been in deep shit then." Zeke stated. "Who was this friend of yours anyway?"

"He was supposed to be the one that would get me out of here, but apparently the government doesn't accept bribes. They care about preserving the peace than their own wealth."

"I'd rather not listen to how great the guys are keeping us caged in here. Where is he?"

And right on cue: "Nate! There you are!"

He approached us with (literally) open arms in his Hawaiian button-up. He had on some khaki pants and what looked to be steel-toe boots. I was right about his mustache being something of Magnum P.I. material. He was an older gent at that but with a full head of hair and cigar in mouth. He was the man I saw in prison with Nate that day.

"There you are, Sully!" Nate replied. They had already met a few minutes ago, but I guess it was a kind of friendship that had been kindled over the years where they were elated to see each other no matter what the situation may be.

"So," Sully patted away a few ashes from the tip of the cigar, "these are your new friends that you told me about?"

"Maybe I should introduce you properly. Sully, meet Cole MacGrath and Zeke Jebediah Dunbar."

I have no clue why he said Zeke's middle name, but Sully seemed to have no interest in that. He saw another matter at hand with Zeke. He began to say it with a chuckle. "Jesus, kid, what the hell happened to you? You look like you've had one pig too many, wouldn't ya say?"

Zeke turned to me. "I think I hate this old codger already."

He patted Zeke on the shoulder. "Ah, I'm just kiddin' with ya. This is a rundown town, but you could lighten up your mood a bit at the very least."

Zeke gave out a fake laugh to which Sully smiled at him. "And you're the man with voodoo powers, I understand?"

He had asked this question to me. "Yeah, I'm the electric man that Nathan has probably spoken fondly of."

"Fondly? Nate just told me that you were a whiny little bitch when you were in prison together." He inhaled some smoke deeply.

I looked past Sully to Nate. "You're a good friend."

"Oh, think nothing of it."

"I hate to be the shitter on this parade, but we ought to get out of here before the five-o come and wonder why most of these dead bodies have scorch marks on them." Zeke gave a good point.

We decided to head on back to the apartment complex. Slowly this band of misfits has started to grow.

* * *

**Hey guys! Trapex again with another installment of Cellmates! This was a longer one of the chapter thus-so-far in the story. I wanted to incorporate Sully in this chapter in some way and really found no use up until the end of it all. I'll tell you, outside of the story, this chapter lacked my motivation put behind it. I decided to kick myself in the ass and get it finished and out there for your viewing pleasure. I'm hoping you enjoy this one and chapter five, although short, will probably be a turning point for the story so far and will on the way hopefully within the month. I can't promise much though, so up until whatever time it shall be, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

"So you just couldn't help yourself being pent up in that mess, huh?"

"The monster inside was clawing for a way out."

This woman laughed a bit sarcastically for my tastes. She kept her cool, which ironically was the same type of vibe that she just happened to give off. It bugged me to no end. No amount of training could hold back femininity.

"So, Ms. Kuo, what do you want with me?"

"It's not what I want with you, MacGrath. My employer is seeking you out. Claims that you're part of a bigger picture or something of the sort." She sat down on a park bench, holding in her small hands an iced tea. I received contact with her shortly after our bounty at the square and she's already speaking some type of crazy. An agent at that, you would think that the kind and caring government wouldn't send one of their own on a warzone mission like this.

"Baby, more than you know." I shook my head.

"Okay. Firstly, Mr. MacGrath, I would appreciate that you didn't call me 'baby' or any kind of cute nicknames or pet names that you guys decide to call women here in the dog pound. Secondly, I know my fair share of details involving this case." In a bag she was carrying, she pulled out a file that was chock full of my life. "You are twenty-seven years old, currently jobless due to the recent situation that has befallen this city but you were a bike messenger before, had a girlfriend in Trish Dailey before she left you after accusing you for her sister's death, you have a friend in Zeke Dunbar, you had to defeat three very capable beings of mass power including one that was your own self from the future to give you a warning about a creature known as the Beast."

"I'm impressed. How did you obtain all of this?"

"There was an agent working in the field who was feeding us information back at the agency. You knew him; John White. He was a personal friend of mine and we assumed that he was KIA due to his lack of responses."

I gulped heavily. No need to tell her what she already knew about his death. "This is all very fun, but you're leaving out the tiny detail of-"

"That you can shoot lightning out of your ass? No need to tell me, static boy."

"Why does everyone keep on saying that I can shoot lightning out of my ass? I haven't even tried it yet!" I sat back in disbelief.

She raised an eyebrow. "'Yet?'"

"You can't expect me not to try it." I leaned back forward in pure attention. "Mind telling me what this bigger picture is or who this employer of yours is? I would like to know what I'm getting into before I begin trusting a potential nutcase."

In response she handed me another file out of her bag of riches and mysteries. I opened it up to find pictures of this monster that my future self spoke of. It was flabbergasting to say the least, having a good look at the horrible creation I was supposed to be able to take on. In the corner there was another single picture of a man held by a paperclip. On it was a signature of the man that read Dr. Sebastian Wolfe.

"So this…Wolfe guy…he's the client of question?" I cocked an eyebrow her way.

"Indeed. He's a genius in his own right as he was one of the leading scientists who developed Ray-Sphere technology that you know all too well of." Agent Kuo sighed at this next part, probably as she was reluctant to ask after seeing my personality in the flesh. "We need you to come on down to New Marais for a few days—maximum a few weeks. Wolfe was hoping that you'd go, so how about it?"

Leaving Empire City, huh? Not that I mind the constant mediocre thugs that I have to shoot down every now and then or that we have to still get most of our food from helicopters, but I felt like that I was going insane. I, the horrible rash on Empire City's backside was saying that I wanted to relocate somewhere nicer.

Kuo grew impatient. "MacGrath, I need an answer; preferably before we turn into fossils."

"Not even a thinking man can please you, huh?" I closed the file and tapped it against the cement to straighten up the papers inside. "Alright, I'm in. When and how do we leave?"

"There's a ferry leaving from the docks tomorrow around 7:00 P.M., which will give you more than enough time to pack up your things and say whatever goodbyes you have to. I'll be staying in a hotel up the street from here if you need me for anything. Don't try to contact me by phone because," she took out her cell phone, threw it on the pavement and smashed it under the heel of her shoe. "This is off the records."

Like a true government agent. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then." Kuo began to walk away until a question just popped into my head. "Hey Kuo!"

She turned around to face me. "What is it MacGrath?"

"What's it like down there? It's been a while since I've been down south and I just was wondering if things have gone to hell same as up here."

She took in a deep breath, obviously depressed that I had asked that. "The world that you see around here now? It's the same everywhere else. You can go to the central north, the west, the south or just stay right here and it's all gone to the eternal fires of hell. Whatever happened around here when that Ray-Sphere went off has affected the rest of the nation. There are slowly rising militant groups spawning and taking rise over individual cities with the urge to take over surrounding areas to gain recruits or to destroy what's in their paths. With the government too busy trying to focus its efforts overseas and the war at home here in Empire City, these criminal organizations have gone on towards the way of outright tyranny. To prevent me from going any further into my explanation, I'll give you the short and straight-up answer MacGrath: things aren't so much sunshine and rainbows anymore as much as it is radiation and explosions."

I let out a huff of air. "I feared for the worst. Thanks for telling me honestly instead of me being shocked of the whole affair."

"You're welcome. Don't get soft on me, MacGrath. We may need that hard and tough outside of yours to get into New Marais." Kuo turned to walk away and stopped mid-step and turned around with a smile on her lips. "'Shocked?' Really?"

I stood up and put my hands in my pockets. "I like making my puns here and there."

"Save the bullshit for when I have some rest. I'm running on about five hours of sleep and being awake for thirty straight. I'll see you tomorrow." As not to get distracted again, she hastily walked towards the hotel she stayed at and that was the last time I saw her that day as she rounded the corner.

* * *

The next morning was as dull as ever. Sully and Nate were talking up on the rooftop about their plans to make it out of here. I hadn't told them about what Kuo told me wanting to escape; by the time I got back, they had all chosen a room (except for Zeke, who insisted on staying awake on the couch until I got back) to go to sleep in.

"No, no, no!" Sully waved his arms around the air. "Has that time in the pen made you go bonkers, kid?"

"I'm telling you Sully; there are just two patrol ships to try and get by when it reaches nightfall and we got Cole on our side!"

"Yes, that's all fine and dandy that we have Sparky over here to help us out but you're missing the point! Those ships hold at least twenty-five men a piece with fully automatic assault weaponry along with steel fence that's connected to a lightning rod to absorb all electric based attacks. That just about makes him, unless he's got some other power, practically useless." Sully leaned back in his chair and sipped on some warm coffee.

"Ouch, old timer." I sat down at the table and covered up my heart sarcastically.

Nate looked over a pad of paper that he had written his escape plans on and just threw it off the ledge of the building in frustration. "There just has to be a way out of here!"

Zeke appeared at that moment, scratching himself. "You guys are still planning on getting out of here? Forget about it and just kick back and enjoy yourselves! There are no worries here and nothing to stop you from doing what you want, so what are you complaining about?"

"Well Zeke, I'm glad that we're on the subject of escape plans because," I put on a wisecracking smile. "I have one."

Sully looked at me with a whimsical chuckle. "You? I'm sorry Sparky, but we're professional thieves and you have a better idea to get out of here than us? We work on ways to get out of situations in our _sleep!_"

"It's called 'connections,' asshole, and I just happen to have them. Y'know that woman I met with last night?"

"Yeah. What about her? We figured she was some dressed-up Asian hooker trying to get her way into the demon's electric-filled pants." Nate seemed amused with himself.

"Turns out she's a federal agent—more to the point, probably _was _one. I have this suspicion that she isn't supposed to be helping me like this. Anyway, she's giving me a one-way ticket out of here to New Marais. I could convince her to let you guys go along with me."

Zeke perked up at the idea. "Hell yeah! New Marais baby!"

"Wait, hold on a sec!" Nate put his hand up with an unsure look on his face. "She's a federal agent, Cole. You don't know if this is just some type of ploy to get you back into the government's custody!"

"She gave me too much information for it to be a false claim. There was information regarding the Ray-Sphere, the Beast, the-"

"Alright Sparky, slow down there. I don't know much about all this mumbo-jumbo, but what I do know is that even schemes like this one that look small on the outside are a lot more elaborate inside the operations."

"Well at this point what other option do we have but to trust her? Worst case scenario they give me the death penalty and you guys will escape prison again."

"You're willing to die just on a gamble?!" Nate said quite exasperated.

"I'm willing to die if it'll get us the hell out of here!" I slammed my fist down on the table; putting a crack in it and having Sully's coffee spill over off the side.

It was dead silent. There were a few birds in the sky that I was tempted to strike down with a bolt since they were squawking so much and the occasional gunfire out in the distance at a location that sounded near a checkpoint on the bridge. It was probably another poor soul trying to escape the asylum of Empire City.

"Alright, we'll go." Nate finally gave in. "What time do we leave and how?"

I continued to explain the entirety of the deal to the three men sitting at the table, from Dr. Wolfe to how the Ray-Sphere explosion affected the entire nation and possibly the world.

"We're leaving today, so you better get packed quickly." I told the three of them, who just sat there. "Well what are you waiting for? Let's go, go, go!"

The ignorant buffoons finally received the hint and made their way down the ladders to their respective rooms. I sat there by myself and drummed my fingers on the table, kind of hesitating with making a decision that I really should've made a long time ago. I stood up and stretched to loosen my muscles. I went to the edge of building and let the wind cool me down with a nice breeze.

I then jumped off the edge.

* * *

**Trapex here with, after a long time coming, another chapter of Cellmates! I apologize for the lateness of what I promised the chapter for but a writer's block had kicked in. This is going to be the only chapter for quite a while as I'm going to be writing other things along the way. Here's something you should know though: I am NOT going to continue my work on Joint Efforts for the time being. I'm just going to mark it as complete and walk away from it as I don't see anywhere that I could actually head with the books. I may decide to start it back up, but the probability as of now is very low. Anyway, I hope you enjoy what I've written here and look forward to my future works!**


	6. Chapter 6

I feel ridiculous. It's not like she can say anything back to me. I mean, what the hell am I supposed to say? _Sorry for not saving your life when it really mattered._ Yeah, that would really get me some brownie points.

"Trish," I began, sitting in front of her tombstone. "I'm going to be leaving soon. I just felt like it was…an obligation of mine to come here and, uh, talk to you before I left." I scratched the back of my head. People crowding on the sidewalks started to stare at me, murmuring about whether the electric man had finally let too much of the juice go to his brain. The ignorance of the populace was something, but if it kept them at peace and blissful, then I couldn't really complain about it. They aren't bothering me and I sure as heck ain't gonna bother them.

I took in deep breath as I went on with the one-man circus sideshow. "Anyway…where was I? Oh, that's right." I rummaged through my satchel for the flowers I had picked up along the way. They were some type of irises. I never caught the name, but I knew what they looked like as Trish constantly stopped to sniff them whenever they were in-stock at greenhouses or flower shops. I've just come to the conclusion that they were her favorite.

"These, uh….these are for you." I set the bouquet down in front of the scorched slab engraved with her birth date, death and name. "I wish I would've paid more attention to what you called them. It probably would've made finding them a hell of a lot easier." I chuckled at my own misfortune.

I felt a tear come to my eye. Dear lord, not now! Not now! I don't need the public to see their hero or villain break down in front of them!

I managed to suppress them and smiled down at my love's grave. "I'm sorry for not doing more. I'm sorry for not listening to you whenever I had the chance to. I'm sorry for not being there by your side whenever you were crying. I'm sorry that I didn't rejoice at the same time when you were happy. I'm sorry I wasn't there to celebrate with every accomplishment that we shared together." I swiped at my eyes again. "I'm sorry for everything Trish. If you were still here, I would…" I gulped down a heavy feeling in my throat. "I would tell you how much I love you. I wouldn't care if anybody saw how I showed by affection and I sure as hell would ask you to marry me in a second. If I could see you one last time then I would do all those things that I couldn't ever have done for you when I was stupid and juvenile. I just needed to tell you these things before I left—possibly forever. If it is the last time that I ever get to see you then…" I kissed my fingers and then pressed them up against Trish's stone. "I'll miss you. I'll love you for however long I live, and I'll love you when I die."

Drawing my hand back, I felt a warm sensation take me over. Maybe it was that coffee that was finally taking over or maybe it was an actual emotional state. Whatever it was, it felt weird at first. It was a long time since I actually felt truly alive. That prison break has nothing on what I feel right now.

"Hey! Hey look him! He isn't any superman! He's just a wimp!"

I heard the naïve words being shouted out to the crowd of people. I got up from the browning grass around me and waved off any loose blades that had gotten onto my clothes. I ignored the man at first and started stretching my arms across my body. Parkour always drained me during first few decades as a regular human being, but thanks to the wonderful world of being a Conduit, I didn't really have to worry about that now. The Ray Sphere had also significantly increased my stamina in the process, so there is one thing to be thankful for.

"Just look at him!" Jesus, is he still going on? "You saw him, didn't you?! He cried over some worthless person that didn't matter! Does this show how bad we're in it to rely on someone so weak?!"

'_Worthless?'_ I felt the electric dance up and down my right arm. I don't want to hurt a civilian, but nobody calls my woman worthless. No one calls my friends anything.

"Hey you!" I shouted out towards the man. The group of people who had gathered jumped back a little bit at my yelling. "Listen, I don't have anything bad against you. This woman who I'm visiting happened to be my fiancé before the blast. I'm willing to let bygones be bygones if you just apologize for calling her worthless."

"Why should I apologize? I've done nothing wrong!" Why do I even try compromising with them anymore? "It's not my fault that you decided to develop feelings for one of your whores! She can rot in Hell along with you! Maybe she'll think twice about being your fuck-buddy!"

Now I never have harmed an innocent person during my time with these powers that made me a force to be reckoned with. I never really intended on ever doing it and up to this point I promised myself I wouldn't. In my eyes, this man had crossed the line from innocent civilian to a loudmouth thug that needed to be taught a lesson.

I felt the power surge up my arm and then I did it: I fired a large bolt his direction. The ball of electricity hit him right in the back, knocking him on his stomach and causing him to go into spasms. By the looks of things he was still alive.

Good.

"You like being the big man?!" I bellowed at him as I walked over to him. "Well, do ya?!" As I approached him, I kicked him as hard as I could in the side. My audience around me gasped in horror at the sight. I leaned down and picked him up with one arm, holding him high above my head by his shirt. "ANSWER ME!" I pulsated a short burst of electric through his body and shook him.

He was doing his best to catch his breath. "Y…Y…Yes I do!" The man was whimpering like a little puppy. I didn't care; he went too damn far.

I slammed him back into the ground and flipped him back over on his stomach. I bent down beside him and began whispering to him. "Tell me: was it worth being the voice of truth?" I grabbed him by his head and lifted it up off the pavement.

"N….No…" The man, who was now a bloody mess, honestly said to me. I went along with my tough guy front and picked him back up off the ground, to which he begged me to put him down. He promised me everything he possibly could: money, benevolence, and a deepened apology for calling Trish something so undeserved.

"It's too GODDAMN LATE FOR THAT!" I screamed as I threw him across the street and into the side of a building. I could hear his bones shatter as he yelped out in pain.

"Are you in misery?" I asked him rhetorically. I raised my voice a second time "TELL ME!"

After a short period of time, he slowly nodded his head. I snickered at him. "Then perhaps I should do the honorable thing and put you out of it." I started charging up electricity in my hand. It felt so good! I haven't gotten to unleash this power in quite a while. Eventually the electric was a nice and bright ball in my hand. The perfect grenade was complete.

I tossed the grenade at him and then turned to walk away. I wanted to make a statement; one that said '_Don't fuck with me._' I heard the man yell out frantically for someone to help him; to have mercy on him. I frowned as I felt the shockwave from the grenade rush throughout the air. It may've been wrong of me, but I didn't care. I wanted that fucker to burn in the eternal depths of Hell and have his body decay there long after the flames have burnt out.

I decided I had spent enough time in the area as I heard the ringing of sirens heading this direction. I ran to the side of a building and began making my way up its pipes.

* * *

"Christ, Cole! What the hell happened over there?" Zeke asked me with urgency as I hovered onto the rooftop. "We heard some big-ass explosion coming from near Trish's gravesite."

I didn't bother answering my fatter friend as he would go off on some tangent if I really told him the truth. So instead, I just grunted heavily. He knew that if I didn't tell him straight-up what had happened, then it was very likely something that I didn't want to talk about.

"That's it then? You're not going to tell us, kid?" Sully raised his arms in disbelief.

Zeke hurriedly made his way to the older man. "Uh, look here Magnum P.I." He put his hand on the shoulder of the man that was covered with Hawaiian décor. "I know you're both new here, so I'll just explain something to you." He clasped his hands together. "When Cole is on his, uh, man period, as it may be demonstrated by exhibit A," he jokingly pointed at me, "then you really don't want to mess with him. There was something that pissed him off, obviously, and I don't know if he wants to talk about it per say."

"Well if something pissed him off, shouldn't we do something about it?" Nathan asked.

"Taken care of." I stated bluntly. With all the stress that was on my back I really wish that I had that cigar in Sully's mouth right now. "What's important right now is that we get to that ship; it'll be going out in just a little while."

The three of them just looked at me suspiciously. I sighed heavily. "Well c'mon! Get your shit together!" I barked at them, electric spiraling around my body.

Sully wasted no time making his way down the metal fire escape. He was already old and I'm guessing he didn't want to die earlier than he had to. Nathan, on the other hand, lingered a little longer. He didn't know whether this was just my normal moodiness or if I was legitimately pissed off. He was wise to choose the latter as he followed his older friend down the escape. I could hear them mumbling, but I couldn't get any distinct words out of the heap of muddled gibberish.

"Why are you acting like this?" Zeke asked. "Why?"

"Why, Zeke? _Why?_ These powers weren't a gift if you haven't figured that out yet! I'm constantly being shot at and was automatically put on everyone's shit-list after they found out that I was the one responsible for the blast that killed this city! My powers aren't something that can be described as a little tea party that we can all get along nicely with! These Conduits and what they've done and, more to a point, what I've done are all a cancer to society! If this technology had never been developed; if I was actually smart enough to check the contents of the package before I picked it up…then maybe this would be different. There would be no person at the center of the blast, sucking all the energy from the lives around him or her. Sure, the radius of the blast would've still been the same and there would still be lives lost, but we—you, me, Trish and Amy—we could've made it out! We would've been the wiser of any of the people in this godforsaken city and snuck out before any of the major authorities would've noticed anything!" I realized then that I was just a mere few inches away from the face of my pudgy friend. I scorned him. "Maybe you should've picked up the package. You obviously wanted powers for yourself anyway."

That sure got him going. "Now look here, Cole. That was a mistake on my part and I acknowledge that, but the past is the past. The important thing is that we—well, more you—defeated Kessler. Now there's just one more threat in the world and then hopefully that'll be it."

I was just about to go berserk. "The past doesn't stay in the past, Zeke! It comes back and bites you in the ass! You put yourself before the betterment of the entire world!" I turned my back on him. "And don't just say that it's one more threat. There will always be two more to spawn after one is brought down, and you know I'll have to get to stopping it. If not me, then who? There's no single or united military that can bring down the Beast before that creature of the damned eviscerates them to tiny piles of pure nothingness."

"Cole, you don't even know if that thing can even cause that kind of destruction. Who knows? Maybe you've powered up enough where you can just fire a shot his way and get a one-hit K.O."

"I doubt it'll be that simple, Zeke. Even a man as strong as Kessler couldn't take him down."

"Yeah, but you beat him to a pulp!"

"Are you kidding me?! I barely came out of that fight _alive!_ Don't go making a long yarn out of a piece of string." I scoffed.

"You're a lot more impressive than you think you are, Cole."

"I'd rather undermine myself and become stronger than get cocky and fragile." I spat at the ground. "Now go get your shit together. We have a long trip ahead of us."

With a heavy heart, Zeke slowly turned back towards the fire escape and made his way down. He probably thought that he had slashed and burned our relationship to a point of no return and, quite frankly, I'd have to agree with him. No matter what the case is our friendship will never go back to its original status of _'Best Buds for Life.'_ Maybe we'll go back to being good friends, but I won't ever be able to trust him the same way as I did when we were growing up together and spending time with each other before the blast.

"MacGrath." I turned my head to the side to see a woman standing before me.

I sighed. "What is it, Kuo?"

"I came to escort you. I was just told to make sure that the deal stays solid."

"I'm guessing this is your accomplice asking you of this, huh?" I turned to face her.

She nodded. "Yes, it was of Dr. Wolfe's request. To be completely honest I wouldn't have taken a step within ten blocks of here if he hadn't asked."

I chuckled. "Afraid that the pack of wild dogs would come and tear you apart?"

"You could only wish, MacGrath." She took a drink of the coffee in her palms. "So it's you plus three, correct?"

"If I'm not too pissed at them within the next hour, then yeah." Then it donned on me. "Wait…how did you find out?"

"I'm part of a government agency hell-bent on protecting the people of the United States from terrorist organizations and acts of terrorism. Do you really think I couldn't acquire a few simple radios and wire tap your building? I need to be keeping my eyes or ears on you twenty-four hours a day and I intend on doing so."

"I could've just as easily drained the system dry." I told her matter-of-factly.

"If you were smart enough to actually consider checking." She sucked away the rest of the coffee as if she was a vampire sucking blood. She threw it off the ledge of the building; not seeing a trash can nearby.

"Careful. You wouldn't want to get charged with loitering, now would you?" I said sarcastically.

"Very funny, MacGrath." Kuo folded her arms. "Go tell your gang to hurry it up. The boat isn't going to wait at the harbor forever."

It just doesn't end. Even when I'm past my life as a delivery boy, I still have to give out the occasional message for someone of higher power. I could easily shock and kill her right now, but that wouldn't solve anything and then there'd be no way we could get out of this wasteland. I gave her a thumbs up, and then proceeded down the steps and knocked on every other window to see which one they were in. I got a woman screaming on one of them, which was pretty hilarious. They were still going at it; might as well. It's the end of days, so you better just fuck the day away.

I can't wait to spend the rest of my time in the ground with my beloved.

* * *

**Trapex here with (finally) another chapter of Cellmates! Nothin' much to say other than please review and leave your thoughts! I'll begin on chapter 7 soon!**


End file.
